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Experience art in Saxony
"Ars longa, vita brevis" – art is long, life is short. And indeed, one trip is not enough to explore all the fascinating art treasures Saxony has to offer, including the unique Old Masters Picture Gallery and the Green Vault in Dresden, Leipzig’s fine art museum, or the Gunzenhauser Museum in Chemnitz, to name but a few. Read on and be inspired!
„A few lines, a few strokes, a little colour at times – and they are masterpieces.”
The 15 museums of the Dresden State Art Collections make up one of the most prestigious networks of its kind in the world, including the Old Masters Picture Gallery, the Green Vault or the Porcelain Collection in Dresden’s Zwinger palace and many more. The diversity of art for visitors to enjoy is unparalleled internationally.
Städtische Galerie Dresden (Dresden City Art Gallery) showcases the spectrum of the artistic development in the city, featuring works by well-known artists such as Robert Sterl, Otto Mueller, Otto Dix and Willy Wolff as well as representatives of the Dresden School of Painting around Albert Wigand and Hans Jüchset.
Also very much worth a visit are Chemnitz Art Collections with the Schlossberg Museum, the New Saxon Gallery and the Gunzenhauser Museum, the latter housing the worldwide largest collection of works by Otto Dix.
Bautzen Museum presents an excellent collection of modern works alongside paintings from the Renaissance and works from the 18h and 19th centuries.
The Museum of History and Culture in Görlitz shows some 200 works of visual and applied arts from the 20th and 21st centuries in its Gallery of Modern Arts housed in the Kaisertrutz fortress.
Leipzig’s Museum for Contemporary Art focusses on international contemporary art post 1945.
Also in Leipzig, G2 Kunsthalle presents young contemporary art since 2000.
Zwickau Art Collections – Max Pechstein Museum combines art and natural history collections with the world's largest exhibition of works by Max Pechstein, a German expressionist and member of the “Die Brücke” group.
The art collections of Hinterglauchau Castle comprise works by Carl Gustav Carus, Christian Friedrich Gille, Carl Bantzer, Ferdinand Dorsch or Robert Sterl.
Old Masters Picture Gallery
For more than 450 years, the museums of the Dresden State Art Collections have displayed a unique wealth of world-class works of art.
The international fame of the Old Masters Picture Gallery is based on masterpieces such as Raphael's "Sistine Madonna", Giorgione's "Slumbering Venus", Correggio's "Holy Night", Cranach's "The St Catherine Altarpiece", Vermeer's "Lady of Letters" and Bellotto's Dresden city views. The numerous widely known paintings by van Eyck, Dürer, Holbein, Rubens, Rembrandt, Poussin, Claude Lorrain, Murillo, Canaletto, Tiepolo, Raeburn and Graff add to the enticing collection, creating a rare art treasure, all in one place!
Robert Sterl is one of Germany’s most eminent impressionist painters and his house in Saxon Switzerland about 40 minutes south of Dresden is preserved in its original state, including 100 of his paintings, and open to visitors.
The Käthe Kollwitz House in Moritzburg near Dresden is the last residence of the eminent German graphic artist and sculptress and open as a museum since 1995.
The Georg Kolbe Collection in the artist’s birthplace Waldheim west of Dresden presents busts, small sculptures and remarkable movement studies of the sculptor who achieved fame in the first half of the 20th century.
Ernst Rietschel, one of the most important sculptors in Germany in the 1800s, was born in the small town of Pulsnitz and the Ernst Rietschel House today showcases drawings as well as models of this most famous sculptures, which adorn the pediments of many 19th century buildings in Germany.
Another great 19th century sculptor, Johannes Schilling, was born in Mittweida between Dresden and Chemnitz, and the Johannes Schilling House is the place to see sculptures, plaster models and documents related to the artist’s life.
The Leonhardi Museum Dresden is the oldest museum in Germany founded by an artist. In addition to works by Eduard Leonhardi, known as “the painter of the German forest”, the gallery presents selected contemporary art of all genres in special exhibitions.
The Kügelgen House – Museum of Dresden Romanticism is located in one of the few remaining Baroque town houses in the Saxon capital and named after Gerhard von Kügelgen, a German painter known for this portraits and history paintings.
Dresden University of Fine Arts was founded in 1764, making it one of the oldest fine arts education institutions in Europe.
Also in 1764, Leipzig Academy of Visual Arts was founded. Today, around 600 young artists study in degree programmes such as painting, photography or media art.
Leipzig’s Spinnerei, once Europe’s largest cotton mill, is now home to artist studios, workshops and galleries and has garnered an international reputation as a hub for contemporary art.
Dresden’s OSTRALE Biennale for Contemporary Art is a great place for art from young and established artists in different genres.
Kunstkraftwerk Leipzig, a former power station, is a European hotspot for digital art and regularly hosts highly acclaimed exhibitions.
IBUG is an urban art festival, with around 100 artists competing to breathe new life into industrial wastelands through graffiti, installations, painting and multimedia art.
Places for art in Saxony
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